For all the miscues, debatable calls — or no-calls — and struggles of the first three quarters of Saturday’s game, the Wildcats players and coaches wanted to focus first on everything that went right for Marin Catholic — primarily, a big win over James Logan that kept the Wildcats undefeated through four weeks of football.
“I’m proud of the effort, but there are things we have to work on and we have a short week,” Marin Catholic head coach Mazi Moayed told his players in a postgame huddle after the Wildcats’ 42-12 victory over the visiting Colts from James Logan.
The game started the way the Wildcats might have expected, with a 70-yard scoring drive. A 19-yard pass from Joey Cook had the Wildcats on the 1-yard line and then Charles Williams punched the ball in with a rush up the middle. A two-point conversion attempt failed, however, leaving Marin Catholic with 6-0 lead just under three minutes into the game.
The Wildcats’ second drive of the game stalled after three incomplete passes, and Charles Lewis was called on for a 30-yard field goal that gave Marin Catholic a 9-0 edge with 3:07 left in the first period.
Receiver Matthew Greco took a short pass from Cook and turned it into a 31-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter for a 16-0 lead that carried through to halftime.
Cook finished with 224 yards on 21-for-34 passing, with three of those passes to Greco for touchdowns. Greco tallied 118 yards on 11 catches to go with four carries for 42 yards. Charles Williams powered the Wildcats’ ground attack with 20 carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns.
Marin Catholic wasn’t rolling up the points early, but James Logan was having trouble just getting out of the gates.
“The game started off a little too close for comfort, but we came back and gained the momentum as the game went on,” said Mario Crocitto, who helped the Wildcats limit James Logan to just 205 yards of total offense.
On their first six drives of the game, the Colts were unable to break past the 50-yard line, penned in by the Wildcats’ staunch defense, with hard tackles made by Crocitto, Ricky Kampman, Drew Ramos and the rest of the unit.
“We knew they’re a run-heavy team, so we knew we could prepare for that,” Crocitto said. “We recognized all the motions and we realized what we had to stop before they could do anything.”
The Colts made the game closer with a 63-yard scoring drive midway through the third quarter, cutting the score to 16-6 with Thomas Miller’s 8-yard pass to a leaping Jaleel Jones in single coverage.
After being held scoreless in the third quarter, the Wildcats scored two touchdowns in just 60 seconds in the fourth quarter. Williams scored on a 4-yard rush up the middle to cap a 30-yard drive just 1:35 into the final frame.
The ensuing kickoff happened to take a lucky bounce for the Wildcats — literally — as the ball bounced backward, touching a Logan player on the way, and landed in Zack Taylor’s arms at the Logan 24-yard line. Three plays and one minute later, Cook somersaulted into the end zone for a touchdown and a 35-6 lead.
Logan bounced back with a pass to a wide open Jack Morton, who outran the Marin Catholic pursuers for a 73-yard touchdown.
Cook and Greco connected one more time with 2:25 left to play. Greco took Cook’s pass and refused to be tackled on his way to an 11-yard touchdown for a 42-12 finale.
“Cook’s getting used to the system still, but he played well, and Greco and Williams had great games,” Moayed said. “That was a good James Logan team with some talented players, some strong players who just don’t give up.”
The Wildcats are scheduled to travel to Antioch on Friday for another difficult test before opening MCAL play.
“This was a stepping stone for us,” Crocitto said. “It took a little to get over the hump against a strong team today. But I think it says we have a very fruitful season in the future. We’re just going to keep working hard.”
Marin Catholic 42, James Logan 12
Non-league
James Logan 0 0 6 6 — 12
Marin Catholic 9 7 6 20 — 42
SCORING SUMMARY
MC — Williams 1 run (run failed)
MC — Lewis 30 FG
MC — Greco 31 pass from Cook (Lewis kick)
JL — Watts 13 pass from Miller (pass failed)
MC — Greco 12 pass from Cook (pass failed)
MC — Williams 4 run (kick fail)
MC — Cook 14 run (Lewis kick)
JL — Morton 73 pass from Miller (pass fail)
MC — Greco 11 pass from Cook (Lewis kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING—Marin Catholic — Cook 21-34-1-224. James Logan — Miller 9-17-2-143.
RUSHING—Marin Catholic — Williams 20-73, Greco 4-42, Cook 7-41, Hawthorne 5-18. Totals 36-174; James Logan — Jacko 19-65, Jones 3-7, Marcelo 2-9, Delguidice 1-3, Leao 1-2, Velez 1-(-9), Miller 4-4-(-15). Totals 31-62.
RECEIVING—Marin Catholic — Greco 11-118, Bosch 4-43, Greer 2-26, Storms 1-17, Haswell 8, Truitt 8, Williams 4. Totals 21-224; James Logan — Blackmon 3-42, Morton 1-73, Watts 2-14, Mercado 2-13, Jacko 1-1. Totals 9-143.
Records: Marin Catholic 4-0, James Logan 2-2.
